Welcome to our new website! As a company founded upon change and improvement, we are excited to announce its launch.

So, you might ask, “Why did we do it?” The answer is very simple: we wanted to create a more engaging consumer experience, informing people of why we are here, what we do, and how they can support us. Additionally, as a benefit corporation, we want to ensure transparency in all that we do.

Through this site you can meet our employees, management, board of directors; you can check out where to find us in retail stores or buy directly online; you can see mission and culture components that drive our everyday actions.

We wanted to show the world that we are very intentional in being a for-profit company. To enforce our idea of empowerment, we believe the most impactful mechanism is to employ individuals on the autism spectrum at GiveGood, so we can provide a safe environment which allows them to excel to their fullest potential. Our new website does a great job of showing this.

Check it out and tell us what you think. As always, we appreciate your support of our employees and our products. Live Empowered.

#LivesEmpowered,

The GiveGood Team

]]>4864An Ode to Internshttps://www.givegoodco.com/an-ode-to-interns/
Wed, 02 Aug 2017 16:10:22 +0000http://givegoodbeta.com/?p=4722“To the forces behind the light that make it shine throughout the day,

To the makers of this website, who give it that blissful ray,

Of light, empowered, that’s what beats in our heartstrings, fly

To the moon, the stars, and remember your mark in the sky.”

– Nicole Mansour, Intern Coordinator

“I have the dream team of interns.”

– David Dunavant, CEO

At GiveGood, we express ourselves. This raw authenticity of emotion takes form in innovation, support, problem-solving, and the occasional cheese (as seen above). GiveGood’s Five “I’s” – Inspiration, Intention, Inclusion, Integrity, and Impact – drive our actions everyday, whether it is brainstorming the next newsletter, editing the website, interacting at work sessions, or promoting our products at pop-up events. This is our culture; this is our fam.

Yet, culture is only as good as the people that embrace it. Our interns not only embrace it, but use it to enforce the idea of empowerment, making their mark on GiveGood eternal. They deserve recognition for the tireless work that they do with enthusiasm and drive, so we thought we would share their stories with you:

Jordan Richardson

Marketing Intern

Bio: Jordan is a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis, studying Linguistics and on a pre-med track (tackling the best of both worlds). As a wordsmith and creative thinker, she leads our newsletter production, social media posts, and content on the website. I dare you to read our product descriptions and tell me you don’t want to try some.

Favorite GiveGood memory: “At one of the work sessions with our young adults, Alexandria and I bonded, and linked arms on our way outside. Eventually when we were walking back inside, Alexandria had her arm out, ready to go. It touched my heart that she was so willing to make me feel welcome at GiveGood. I knew it was the start of a new friendship, a new family.”

Weird fact: She is obsessed with zodiac signs and the word “aesthetic.”

Jason Crawford

Sales Intern

Bio: Jason is a senior at Texas Tech, studying Finance, History, and Management Information Systems (what even…). As a younger version of John Mulaney (the comedian), his sense of humor will keep you on your toes and have you in laughing fits. Originally hired for only sales, Jason’s role pivoted to casually creating this entire website from scratch.

Favorite GiveGood memory: “David didn’t tell us it was his birthday until way later, so we surprised him with a bunch of sticky notes with our favorite memories of him, a hand-made card, and a cake. I also made him a rendition of the ‘Creation of Man’ painting with his face and his entrepreneurial idol, Blake Mycoskie. I feel like he almost cried.”

Weird fact: He had to get a root canal at 11 years old due to a freak dodgeball accident.

Alex East

Fulfillment Intern

Bio: Alex is a junior at Mississippi State University, studying Accounting and Finance (icing on the cake!). We affectionately call him “Yeast” because he rises under pressure, balancing our Quickbooks, setting up our e-commerce platform, and creating our inventory accountability mechanism (no biggie).

Favorite GiveGood memory: “At one of our pop-up events, we were handing out free samples of our new all-natural GiveGood Bar when this lady approached Nicole and me. When we offered her a free sample, she casually responded, ‘No thanks, I only eat unhealthy foods.’ I responded, ‘I understand, there’s nothing wrong with that!’ after which she laughed and walked away. I immediately turned to Nicole and we both simultaneously said, ‘There’s many things wrong with that.'”

Weird fact: In second grade, he spent Christmas Eve in the ER after sledding face-first into a fire hydrant.

]]>4722Work, Place, and Purposehttps://www.givegoodco.com/work-place-and-purpose/
Tue, 01 Aug 2017 16:39:27 +0000http://givegoodbeta.com/?p=4607Unemployment of young adults on the Autism Spectrum is simply not a minor issue. With an overall 82% unemployment rate, it affects the US and our population financially, psychologically, and yes, morally. Yet our country has a tradition of empowering those of us who need assistance and resources. It is what makes us unique; it is what enables us to thrive generation after generation.

So why is public discourse so muted? Perhaps the reason lies in the assumption that the issue does not touch the everyday lives of most Americans or the numbers affected by this issue seem so small. But hard data seems to indicate otherwise.

According to the CDC, it is estimated that 1 in every 45 young children are diagnosed with some form of Autism Spectrum Disorder. That is greater than 2% of the US population. Healthcare officials are estimating that over 50,000 individuals on the Autism Spectrum turn 18-years-old every year. 50,000. Every. Year. Additionally, many of these individuals rely on the day-to-day help of family, caregivers, and friends. Ultimately, it is estimated that greater than 5% of the US population is touched by the issue.

Financially, the numbers are equally staggering. It is estimated that over $232 billion is spent annually on services for the 3.5 million Americans on the Autism Spectrum. This is a powerful drain on the economy and the finances of many families, especially considering the 82% unemployment rate for these individuals. Meaning, while unemployment rate for young adults on the Autism Spectrum is 16 times greater than the current US unemployment of 5%, they do not have the opportunity to contribute to the local and national economy. Furthermore, of the 18% who are employed, the majority of the workers are underemployed or serially employed.

Considering this information, this is the most shocking and motivating piece of the puzzle: these individuals possess cognitive abilities greater than 52% of the general population. The same population who are burdened with the 82% unemployment rate.

Normally, there would be incredible public outrage at such a high unemployment rate that affects a large and capable population. There would be Congressional hearings or aggressive actions taken by local communities to address the problem. There may be widespread public protests, telethons, or even benefit concerts to raise awareness and solutions.

But, there isn’t.

This makes our work at GiveGood so much more powerful: the mission to create a movement, the hope to offer employment solutions, and the need to give and treat one another with the respect and opportunity we all deserve. We believe that these young people possess the abilities to succeed in the workplace; they only need creative structures and support to achieve what everyone else takes for granted: work, place, and purpose.

GiveGood has begun building the framework that intentionally supports our employees’ personalities, needs, and abilities. We are now adding our businesses that employ these young people and offer our goods to the public. We hope that you find our mission worthy of your admiration, but also our products worthy of your purchase.

For every dollar that you spend at GiveGood, we promise to continue to grow our company and to provide work, place. and purpose for these young people. Please go to www.givegoodco.com, check us out, and join our movement.

]]>4607The Re-gifterhttps://www.givegoodco.com/the-re-gifter/
Mon, 31 Jul 2017 21:58:13 +0000http://givegoodbeta.com/?p=4592‘Tis the season of the re-gifters!

It’s that time of the year. It began about two weeks ago, sometime between the last carving of the turkey and the first pouring of eggnog. Out of an 11-month hibernation, they started appearing. At first their numbers were sparse. But day-by-day, their legions are expanding. You may not see them. You may not even be aware of them. They are hidden, right before your very eyes. They are usually very quiet, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves. They are crafty, and they are sly. They have to be, for their survival, for they are the Re-Gifters.

It’s been a tough 7-years for these people whose creativity was exposed on Seinfield’s famous episode “The Label Maker.” Once, they operated without interference, but after this television episode, everyone was warned that if anyone dared to recycle their Label Baby Junior label maker, we all were on the watch.

We at GiveGood, though, are on a mission. We proudly support re-gifting. It makes great sense to us. After all, GiveGood is the beneficiary of the talents and gifts of our employees who are young adults on the autism spectrum. Often these talents and gifts are unused and unseen. They remain hidden, because these young adults don’t have a platform to show the world their abilities. GiveGood is changing this! We are building a company that is dedicated to giving them an environment, in which they can excel. While we are barely 2-months old, we are already seeing them soar. They are re-gifting their talents.

Maybe that’s why we are so excited about our holiday gift box. We think it is clever and revolutionary. While many specialty food gift boxes will be filled with wonderful treats that encourage the recipient to open, devour, and enjoy, our gift box encourages you to re-gift our toffee. We purposely decided to enclose 6 of our packaged retail boxes within a larger, specially designed package. When you receive our gift box, we hope that opening our interactive package will be as enjoyable as eating our delicious dark chocolate almond toffee. Whether you choose to re-gift one or six of our treats, we are excited that our gift can possibly touch many different hands.

If you are interested, go to www.givegoodco.com and order a gift box from our shop. By the way, if you are not a toffee lover, we understand and have another idea to support our mission to support re-gifting. One of GiveGood’s wonderful retailers had an idea of her own. She said, “Wouldn’t it be great if a person could take one of his or her treasured possessions, wrap it, and then give it to another person, during the holidays.” What a wonderful idea, taking something very personal that we own and giving it to someone else. Now that’s what GiveGood is all about.

GiveGood wishes all of our friends a Happy Thanksgiving! We believe that our deepest and most meaningful Thanksgivings arise out of the heartfelt sense of our personal gratitude. For it is our recognition of the people who have played significant and powerful roles in our lives that spur us to be bearers of charity and hope to others. The first part of our mission statement expresses our desire to inspire charitable acts in our community. We now live in a time where we can easily be misconstrued to believe that divisions and resentment rule our days. It is so difficult to turn on a television or read a newspaper and find hope. However, GiveGood believes that what separates our communities are pale when compared to all of the important things that we share. Our collective and similar journeys, rooted from underlying human truths of wanting to connect with others and make a positive impact on each other’s lives, often are what can bring us together. So we want to spread hope by proclaiming that if we all show kindness to others, our world can change.

While GiveGood is not a charity, we seek to be charitable. We are a for-profit and for-purpose employer of young adults on the autistic spectrum. We believe that these young people have great talents and skill sets, and we want to give them an opportunity to find their place and purpose within Memphis. By doing so,, we hope to inspire charitable actions in others.

So during this wonderful Thanksgiving week, remember with gratitude those who have shaped your lives and translate that positive energy to being the bearer of hope to those around you. In the Jars of Clay song “Small Rebellions,” we are challenged to display “brutal acts of kindness” that possibly will convey that we find value in our fellow citizens and that we are all in this together. Happy Thanksgiving from GiveGood!

OUR NEW AND IMPROVED WEBSITE

We have just unveiled our new website. It now will offer an e-commerce feature, as well as allowing GiveGood to spread the word on our mission. Please check it out at https://www.givegoodco.com, and if you haven’t done so, give us your email address, and we will keep you up-to-date on our happenings.

STORIES

In our short history, GiveGood has been overwhelmed with both your support as well as your stories. It is refreshing to see so many acts of kindness that are shown by people in our community. Recently, I had the chance to talk to a young woman who has a passion for both the theatre and youth on the autistic spectrum. So what does she do? She works to involve these youth in the theatre. And guess what? She has discovered that many of these youth have natural born acting skills!

I heard another inspiring story. There is a young woman who is an advanced equestrian. She also has a heart for those on the autistic spectrum, and she works to teach them the skills to enjoy horseback riding. She clearly recognizes with gratitude those who have shaped her life, and she responds by carrying ideas of charity forward!

If you have a story that you would like to share, please send it to us at info@givegoodco.com. We take great pleasure and inspiration hearing the things that you are doing to make a difference in our communities. Either small or large, let’s be filled with rebellious acts of kindness toward others in our community.

Happy Thanksgiving from GiveGood!

]]>4590Welcome to GiveGoodhttps://www.givegoodco.com/welcome-to-givegood/
Mon, 31 Jul 2017 21:52:36 +0000http://givegoodbeta.com/?p=4588Welcome to GiveGood! We are a new company based in Memphis, Tennessee, dedicated to bringing you products that empower young adults on the autistic spectrum. We are offering new solutions that meet the huge needs today.

We just wrapped up our first official sales launch this past weekend at a holiday shopping event. Offering our new product lines, a dark chocolate almond toffee and apparel that feature our logo, we had little idea of what type of response we would receive from shoppers. We came into the event believing we had a great toffee bar, thanks to our wonderful partners at Dinstuhl’s Fine Candy, and an engaging retro logo that would appeal to shoppers who wanted to make a fashion statement. But, the excitement over our mission exceeded any expectations and, frankly, overwhelmed us.

While recently founded in August, the seeds for GiveGood were planted over 20 years ago. I can remember it, as if it were yesterday. My wife and I received a phone call one afternoon from my son’s preschool teacher that changed our lives. Our son, she said, was having significant issues in his classroom, and she urged us to seek immediate help.

We began the diagnostic testing soon thereafter, and the behavioral report indicated that he had Asperger Syndrome, a developmental disorder on the autistic spectrum. We reeled from the news. We knew absolutely nothing about Asperger, as it only had been included in the bible of the psychiatry profession, the DSM, the previous year. Being a new diagnosis without the information and support systems that are present today, we began a journey dedicated to our son’s health.

Today our son has shown remarkable and sometimes miraculous growth over these years. Every milestone he has achieved is especially celebrated, for the distance covered is so extreme. All of the time and energy that have been dedicated towards him has reaped the rewards of many successes. The journey has been long, but it is not yet complete.

We have found that as young men and women on the autistic spectrum approach adulthood, they are often faced with harsh realities. They have aged out of the educational and support systems that they have depended on for so many years, and they face some harsh realities. While their cognitive abilities are superior than most and they have much to offer potential employers, their job prospects are dim. Over 82% of these young adults face unemployment.

We at GiveGood believe that we have an entrepreneurial solution. We are going to build a structure that is unparalleled and is dedicated to supporting the specific needs of the young men and women on the autistic spectrum. With this unique structure, we will provide the framework and support that can insure vocational success.

More importantly, though, than giving them a job is that we are giving them a place and purpose in our community. All of us wish to provide value to those around us. It is empowering to know that we make a difference in each other’s life. Whether we are on the autistic spectrum or we have another trait that individually defines us, it is the diversity and uniqueness of each and every one of us that provides the depth and richness of our community.

So, we at GiveGood are on a mission. We are not shy in asking for your support. We believe that our products are worthy of purchase and our mission worthy of support. Our profitability seeks to support our mission. The more toffee and apparel that we can sell, the more young adults will find a place and a purpose. GiveGood is not a charity, but a means to empower our community. It is our belief that we don’t hire these young adults on the autistic spectrum to bring you our products, but we bring you our products, so that we can hire these young adults. We hope you will join our movement.